*4.2. Scarcity of Land Resources*

The evaluation indicators of land resource scarcity and human needs diversity include socioeconomic data such as population size and GDP. In China, the smallest statistical unit of the above socioeconomic data is the county-level administrative division. Therefore, the county-level administrative division was taken as the scale for the analysis of land resource scarcity and human needs diversity.

The spatial distribution of land resource scarcity is obviously different (Figure 4). Tianqiao, Huaiyin, Lixia and Shizhong districts in the central part of Jinan have the highest land resource scarcity. These areas are located in the center of Jinan, with high urbanization levels, large populations, limited arable and ecological land and small per capita construction land scales. Land resource scarcity in Jiyang, Licheng, Changqing and Laiwu is low. Among them, Jiyang is located at the edge of north China Plain, rich in cultivated land resources; Changqing and Laiwu belong to mountainous areas and are rich in ecological resources. In addition, these areas are still in the stage of rapid urbanization, with extensive land use and a large per capita construction land scale. Shanghe, Zhangqiu, Pingyin and Gangcheng have medium land resource scarcity.

#### *4.3. Diversity of Human Needs*

The diversity of human needs in Jinan is greatly affected by the level of social and economic development, resulting in high diversity in the middle and low diversity in the north and south (Figure 4). Lixia, Shizhong, Licheng, Zhangqiu and Laiwu districts have the highest diversities of human needs. These areas have a high level of social and economic development, with a total population of 6484–10518 million and GDP of 593.51–149.48 billion yuan. The diversity of human needs in Jiyang, Tianqiao, Huaiyin and Changqing districts are medium. The population size and GDP are lowest in Shanghe and Pingyin counties and Gangcheng district, resulting in the lowest diversity of human needs.

**Figure 4.** Scarcity of land resources and diversity of human needs.

#### *4.4. Land Use Conflict*

Land use conflicts in Jinan were dominated by medium conflicts (43.89%). Strong and weak land use conflicts accounted for 25.21% and 30.90%, respectively. The spatial distribution of land use conflicts differed, with high conflicts in the north and low conflicts in the south (Figure 5). Strong land use conflicts are concentrated in the urban and rural transition zones of Tianqiao, Huaiyin and Shizhong districts, as well as in the northern parts of Licheng and Zhangqiu districts. Due to proximity to the urban area, land resource scarcity is higher in the urban–rural transition zone. The rapid urbanization process leads to a massive influx of people into cities and towns, sharply increasing the demand for construction land. Urban expansion and sprawl will inevitably give priority to the occupation of land resources in the urban–rural transition zone. Therefore, the contradiction and conflicts over land use in this region will intensify. This has been confirmed by previous research on urban expansion and sprawl [29,30].

**Figure 5.** Spatial distribution of land use conflict.

Medium land use conflicts were mainly concentrated in Shanghe, Jiyang and Laiwu. Shanghe county and Jiyang district are in the North China Plain, which has flat terrain and

fertile soils and is an important grain producing area. In summary, there are fewer factors restricting land use; thus, land use suitability is high. However, its urbanization level is relatively low and lacks cohesion and attraction to the population. In addition, these areas are dominated by migrant workers, and there is a certain degree of population loss, resulting in a large per capita cultivated land area, ranking them first and second in the per capita cultivated land area of Jinan. There is also a large per capita construction land scale, particularly in Jiyang district. Therefore, the diversity of human needs in Shanghe county and Jiyang district is not high, and land resource scarcity is low. Consequently, although Shanghe county and Jiyang district have high land use multi-suitability, the land resource scarcity is low and the diversity of human needs is not high, leading to a medium level of land use conflict. Laiwu district is surrounded by mountains to the north, east and south, with the Taishan mountains in the north and the Sorai Mountains in the south. It is gentle in the south and steep in the north, forming a semicircle basin protruding to the north. Due to limitations of topological factors, land use multi-suitability is medium in the basin and low in other areas. Laiwu district had a total population of 956,600 and a GDP of 59.351 billion yuan in 2018, with high diversity of human needs and medium land resource scarcity. The low land use multi-suitability, medium land resource scarcity and high diversity of human needs resulted in medium land use conflict in the district.

Weak land use conflicts are mainly distributed in the built-up areas of major towns, in the southern mountainous areas and in Gangcheng districts. The built-up areas are mostly made up of impervious surfaces and the possibility of converting them into cultivated or ecological land is very small. Therefore, the multi-suitability of the land is low. The main reasons for the weak land use conflicts in the southern mountainous area are the large topographic undulated area, frequent occurrence of geological disasters and inconvenient transportation. Gangcheng district is surrounded by mountains to the east, south and west; thus, the land use suitability is not high in most areas. The total population here is only 325,800, the GDP is 26.087 billion yuan, and the diversity of human needs and land resource scarcity is low. Therefore, land use conflict is weak.
